Applicative programming language: Difference between revisions

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{{More citations needed|date=April 2020}}

{{Distinguish|text=[[applicative functor|applicative functors]], introduced in the paper "Applicative programming with effects"<ref>{{Cite journal|lastlast1=McBride|firstfirst1=Conor|last2=Paterson|first2=Ross|date=2008-01-01|title=Applicative programming with effects|journal=Journal of Functional Programming|volume=18|issue=1|pages=1–13|doi=10.1017/S0956796807006326|issn=1469-7653|citeseerx=10.1.1.114.1555}}</ref>}}

In the [[programming paradigm|classification of programming languages]], an '''applicative programming language''' is built out of [[Function (computer science)|functions]] applied to [[Argument (computer science)|arguments]]. Applicative languages are [[Functional programming|functional]], and applicative is often used as a synonym for functional.<ref>{{cite conference|title=Logic Programming cum Applicative Programming|first1=Nachum|last1=Dershowitz|first2=David A.|last2=Plaisted|year=1985|book-title=Symposium on Logic Programming|place=Boston, MA|pages=54-6654–66|url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.404.3826&rep=rep1&type=pdf}}</ref> However, [[concatenative languages]] can be functional, while not being applicative.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://evincarofautumn.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-concatenative-programming-matters.html|title=Why Concatenative Programming Matters|author=Jon Purdy|date=12 February 2012|access-date=28 April 2020}}</ref>

The [[Semantics (computer science)|semantics]] of applicative languages are based on [[beta reduction]] of terms, and [[sideSide effectseffect (computer science)|Side effect]] such as mutation of [[State (computer science)|state]] are not permitted.<ref name="Backus 1977">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1145/359576.359579| title = Can programming be liberated from the von Neumann style?: A functional style and its algebra of programs| journal = Communications of the ACM| volume = 21| issue = 8| pages = 613613–641| year = 1978| last1 = Backus | first1 = J. | doi-access = free}}</ref>

[[Lisp programming language|Lisp]] and [[ML programming language|ML]] are applicative programming languages.